


Loose Threads

by subjunctive



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Aliens Made Them Do It, F/M, Hate Sex, Jotun Loki, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:25:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subjunctive/pseuds/subjunctive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aliens kidnap Jane and Loki and make them have sex. (That's it, that's the whole story.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loose Threads

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Mercurie, who looked over this, noticed my addiction to the past perfect tenses, and made some much needed suggestions about several scenes, the ending in particular.

When Jane woke up, it was all at once. No grogginess, no hangover headache, nothing like that: more like a jolt to her system, jerking her fully awake. That alone freaked her out.

Her first coherent thought, after the panic, was that she must be in a hospital. The white walls were sterile and clinical. It had that disinfected smell, the one she'd hated ever since she was a kid sitting in the hallway while her dad lay still in a hospital bed. 

An accident, maybe? She tried to think of the last thing she remembered. She recalled being in her trailer, perched on a barstool and trying to balance a notepad full of equations and a take-out box of lo mein. She'd _almost_ mastered holding a pair of chopsticks and a pencil in the same hand. Right now, she looked at the hand next to her head on the pillow and wiggled her fingers. Empty. No chopsticks in sight.

 _What_ happened, she thought, caught between total befuddlement and fear.

Then the smart part of her brain kicked in, and she looked around, this time setting aside her knee-jerk reaction and _paying attention_.

She was lying on a bed, close to the floor, because she could see the smooth white tile, so maybe more of a mattress really. No sheets. Then she looked down at herself.

"Oh _shit_ ," she said, and with a rush of panic, sat up and pulled her knees to her chest to hide everything.

She was _naked_. Bare-assed as the day she was born.

This had to be some kind of weird villainous kidnapping thing. The nudity seemed to support her hypothesis. Tightening her arms around her legs, Jane looked around narrow-eyed for a perpetrator.

She saw a figure stalking the other end of the long room. A blue figure. A very agitated blue figure, from the looks of it. It must be a mutant – that was Jane's first thought. Plus, he was naked too, which she tried not to notice. But the mutant idea would make more sense as a theory if _she_ were a mutant, too – she'd heard of these things, there was an exposé on a mutant experimentation camp on the news last week – which she definitely wasn't. But whoever Blue Guy was, he didn't look like her captor. He looked like one of the other inmates.

That gave her the courage to call out, "Hello?" in his direction.

The figure's head whipped toward her, and his eyes widened, as if in recognition. That was a crazy thought, of course. Jane dismissed it.

"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no," he said with mounting emotion, his voice vaguely familiar. "What in the Hel is _she_ doing here?"

He walked halfway over to her and raised one of his arms. Instinctively Jane pulled back, but when he brought down his fist, it – stopped. Completely. In mid-air. She watched in fascination, her fear fading, as he pounded against the invisible wall.

"Answer me!" To his credit, his growl did sound pretty threatening. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" A long string of frantic questions poured out of him, but there was no response. His frustration increased visibly.

"I am the King of Asgard!" he howled, both arms laying into the wall. " _ANSWER ME!_ "

The King of - _what_? Jane stared at him. She'd met Odin. This was definitely not Odin. But with that information plus the familiarity of his voice, something clicked into place all the same.

"Loki?" she whispered.

He turned to face her. His eyes, so very red, stood out against the blue and white of his face, which was contorted in an expression of rage. It was barely even recognizable as a face.

"If you had something to do with this," he spat, every word venom, "know that I will flay the very skin from your flesh, I will rend you to microscopic pieces, Jane Foster, and fling them to every corner –"

"If _I_ had something to do with this?!" she screeched, forgetting modesty for the moment and jumping to her feet. The _nerve_ of him – "What did _you_ do? What is this place? Why are you blue?" He bared his teeth at her. She shouted belatedly, "And _how the hell are you alive?_ "

" _PLEASE CALM DOWN._ "

At the intrusion of an unknown voice, Jane reared back and looked around the room wildly. There was no one else here and no speakers she could see. Loki – Thor's brother Loki, who was _still alive_ – looked similarly confounded. His palms, nearly white, spread out and pressed against the glass, or force field, or whatever it was.

"Is this the afterlife?" Jane asked weakly. She'd never believed in such a thing, but her world had really opened up in the last few years, and it would explain how she came to be here mysteriously – along with Loki. She was all about expanding her worldview.

"Surely not," said Loki, but the scorn in his voice was faint and he looked uncertain.

" _SUBJECTS' NAMES ARE JANE FOSTER AND LOKI LAUFEYSON._ "

In response, Loki roared, a sound that should have shaken the whole room, but somehow didn't. "That is _not my name!_ "

" _JOTUN NAMING CONVENTIONS HAVE BEEN RESEARCHED._ "

"I am not a frost giant!" he shouted, looking completely unhinged.

For the first time Jane noticed how his hands had left marks on the invisible wall. No, not exactly marks. Squinting, she ventured closer to them. They were smears, liquid blue-black smudges roughly the size of hands. With a sickening jolt, she realized that his hands were dripping with the same stuff. It was his blood, it must be. Thinking of how he must have torn himself up, she shuddered.

Wait. Another thought occured. Had that voice just said that Loki was a frost giant?

This was a lot of data to take in at once. She licked her lips. "Uh, hello?" she said, trying not to feel like a moron. "Whoever's out there, could you tell us what's going on?"

Loki sneered at her, but she tried to ignore it.

" _WE WILL NOT HARM YOU. WE ARE NEITHER HUMAN NOR JOTNAR. WE ARE RESEARCHERS. WE REQUIRE DATA INPUT._ "

Researchers. Scientists. She didn't know what "jotnar" meant, but maybe she could reason with them. "Who are you, though? Uh, I mean, are you aliens?" She nearly smacked herself for that one. _Of course aliens don't think of themselves as aliens, come on, Jane._ "I mean, aliens to us? Are we aliens to you?"

" _THAT DESCRIPTION IS ACCURATE, THOUGH LIMITED IN ITS CONCEPTUALIZATION._ "

Jane felt a flare of hope. She'd met aliens before – maybe not quite like this, but still – and survived. "Okay. Hi. And you know our names already. Could you introduce yourselves to us?"

" _THAT IS NOT NECESSARY._ "

Her heart sank a little, but all was not lost. "Okay, that's okay, could you, um, could you tell us what kind of data you'd like? Is it biological data?"

" _THAT IS CORRECT._ "

Jokes about alien probes aside, it wasn't entirely bad news. They were just collecting samples of the unknown. For what, Jane didn't know, but she felt encouraged. "If you need some blood samples, or tissue samples, I would be – and I'm sure Loki would be – happy to comply." Beside her, Loki snorted. She shot a glare at him. Hopefully they hadn't heard that.

" _THAT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY. WE HAVE COMPLETE GENETIC DATA FOR BOTH HUMANS AND JOTNAR._ "

Frustration was rolling off Loki in waves as he paced nearby, and Jane couldn't help but pick up some of it for herself. "Then what _do_ you want?"

" _WE REQUIRE DATA PERTAINING TO INTER-SPECIES REPRODUCTION._ "

It took Jane a minute to parse that – and Loki, too, from the looks of it – before they were both backing away from the wall, from each other.

"No. No, no, no. You can't be serious –" Jane said wildly, while Loki growled about the many tortures he was going to inflict on them when he got out. Unable to even look at him, she tried to tune his voice out too. It didn't work.

Looking down, Jane remembered abruptly that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. She squeaked and tried to cover up with her hands and arms.

"Why -?" she started, wanting a distraction, any distraction. "Why us?"

 _FIRST, YOU ARE BOTH OF PRIME REPRODUCTIVE AGE FOR YOUR RESPECTIVE SPECIES._ Loki hissed at the last word, looking ready to pounce again.

" _SECOND, DUE TO SIZE DIFFERENCES, NO JOTNAR-HUMAN COUPLING HAS BEEN POSSIBLE BEFORE NOW DESPITE INHERENT GENETIC COMPATIBILITY._ " He wasn't very happy with that statement, either. Jane was feeling rather faint and floaty herself, and not in the good way.

" _THIRD, YOU HAVE MET PREVIOUSLY, MAKING YOU IDEAL CANDIDATES FOR THE RESEARCH._ "

For a moment, Jane was totally silent. Then a giggle wormed its way up her throat, and by the time it came out, it was a full-blown hysterical laugh. She actually bent over with the force of it, trying and failing to hold it in with her hands clapped over her mouth, so inappropriate but she couldn't help it, her shoulders shaking and unable to catch her breath or stop the fit until it ran its course. 

After a solid thirty seconds she started to calm down, hiccupping occasionally and wiping at the tears that had begun to course down her cheeks. "You thought – you know we've met," she began, and couldn't stop giggling again, she was going totally looney tunes, and she had to stop for a minute. Deep breaths: one, two, three, four. "So I guess you know how we met," her voice hitched, "and you thought – you thought that would make your job _easier_? You can't be serious." Her tone was faint with amazement.

She fancied that Loki's snort was a little more amused this time.

" _WE WILL OBSERVE THE PROCEEDINGS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE AND COLLECT INFORMATION._ "

"This is –" Jane struggled for words adequate to describe what she thought about this situation and came up completely short. "This is _rape!_ " she finally settled on.

" _THE ENCOUNTER WILL BE CONSENSUAL._ " _That_ didn't sound foreboding at all.

"You said – you said –" Frantically Jane looked over at Loki, but he didn't look like he was going to be any help at all. She ran a hand through her hair. "You said you need reproductive information. Like, like, babies? Or sex?" Swallowing, she tried not to hurl at the thought of having sex with Loki. Actually, she wasn't sure which option she liked less. Babies: not in her five-year plan, and definitely not for reasons of aliens. On the other hand, sex with Loki: definitely nausea-inducing.

Never in her life had Jane believed that anthropology was an actual science, but she was willing to change her mind now. "What about anecdotal information? You know, like, sexual ethnography or something? We can tell you all about it! That's research, right?"

The response was relentless. " _THAT IS INSUFFICIENT DATA._ "

To his credit, Loki looked almost freaked out too, which added weight to the possibility that this wasn't his doing.

The voice spoke again. " _YOU MAY CHOOSE WHETHER TO BE IMPREGNATED OR ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY._ "

" _What?_ What kind of choice is that?" Her laughing fit had left her feeling empty, and the surreality of the situation had started to fade into fear.

"The first," Loki said immediately, like an asshole. Not that she could blame him for taking the easy way out, exactly. Actually, no, she definitely could. "I choose the first."

"What? No!" Jane cried. "I definitely _do not choose that._ "

" _AN AGREEMENT MUST BE REACHED. EITHER YOU BOTH MUST CONSENT TO BE IMPREGNATED OR YOU BOTH MUST CONSENT TO MUTUAL SEXUAL ACTIVITY._ "

Something about the wording gave Jane pause.

"What do you mean – both consent to be impregnated?" A cautious note entered Loki's voice, and he looked, for the first time, actually afraid. Jane was suddenly, savagely glad for that.

" _IS THERE SOME CONFUSION?_ " the digital voice intoned, and suddenly to Jane it didn't sound like a voice at all. Voices were fleshly, made from air and throat and vibrations. This was something else, something more impersonal and computerized and less – less human. " _BOTH SPECIMENS WILL BE IMPREGNATED, OR BOTH SPECIMENS WILL ENGAGE IN SEXUAL ACTIVITY._ "

It didn't sound any less weird or awful the second time. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Loki's chest rising and falling with deep breaths. He was glaring, but there was nothing to glare at, no convenient figure to absorb his wrath, so he shifted restlessly instead.

" _AN AGREEMENT MUST BE REACHED,_ " the voice repeated.

Loki, in a disturbing turn, was looking strikingly thoughtful. Jane thought that expression didn't bode well for her. "I will do this thing for you," he said, tone full of wheedle and grease, " _but_ . . . I have one condition. Return me to my natural form as an Asgardian. I'll do whatever you like. Surely there is some way our realms can be friendly . . . _cooperative_ . . ."

He did not look over at Jane while he said this. A frisson of fear ran through her. She and Loki were on the same side here, why couldn't he _see_ that? If they put up a united front, surely they – whoever they were – couldn't just _make_ them do anything. They weren't puppets. A more practical side of Jane's brain whispered, to her shame, _It would be easier if he looked normal, if he looked human . . ._ She shoved down this thought immediately.

The voice, however, was unwavering when it spoke. " _THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE._ "

Instead of continuing to bargain, Loki only grew angrier. "This is outrageous. I am no mere Jotun. I am the king of Asgard, you fools, and when I am returned to my strength I will –" He broke off, gnashing his teeth.

" _THE SUBJECTS MUST REMAIN CALM._ " The voice hadn't changed, but Jane sensed a warning.

"The subject will _not_ be calm," snarled Loki, all cool lost. For several moments he went still; it looked like he was concentrating. Several times he made a gesture with one of his hands, increasingly sharp and wild; but nothing happened. His frustration mounted visibly, and when he spoke his tone held as much agony as anger. "What have you _done_ to me?"

" _WE HAVE SUPPRESSED YOUR NATURAL TALENTS TEMPORARILY, UNTIL THE DATA IS COLLECTED._ "

Then he looked frantic, panicked, as he looked around and saw no hope. There were only the white walls, the glass divider between them, the polished surfaces.

"Very well, then," he said through gritted teeth. "You leave me no choice." Jane studied him, tucking her hands into her sides, as his posture stiffened. Maybe he knew some way out of here, maybe he had some secret power held in reserve –

She nearly screamed as he rushed the invisible barrier, bashing his head on it at the last moment. He almost looked up, dazed, but the expression on his face was pure anger, pure hatred. He hit his head again and again until his eyes glazed over and the barrier was smeared with fresh blood, and then Jane heard a hissing sound from the room around her, and a few moments later everything went dark.

* * *

There was an odd moment of déjà vu when Jane woke up for the second time on the pallet. She groaned into her arm, shifting slightly. She had no idea how she'd gotten here again. The last thing she remembered was a body, blue, rushing to –

The memory jogged her awake a little further. It wasn't a dream after all, she realized with heart-sickening disappointment. Jane's eyes darted around the room. Everything looked just as she'd last seen it, which took the wind out of the sails of her fantasy that the whole ordeal had just been a horrible dream. Her breathing came faster, even as she told herself to calm down.

Loki. She was here with Loki. Looking around for him, Jane saw that nothing was out of place in their adjoined cells; there was no trace of blood on the barrier, and no sign that he'd ever tried to hurt himself. It looked just as it had when she'd first woken up and taken its measure. But where was he?

He was sitting on the other side of the room, as blue as she remembered. His elbows were propped up on his knees and his chin on his hands, giving him a thoughtful aspect. The markings that ran up his torso and his arms were pale, light-colored, in contrast to the rest of his skin.

When she pushed herself up, his red eyes turned on her with blazing, unblinking clarity. She ran a hand through her hair, tucking her knees up. There was a strange, metallic scent to the air, and she remembered the hydraulic hiss that must have been some kind of delivery system. They, whoever they were, must have put them to sleep by chemical means. How long had they been out?

Loki looked fine, utterly unharmed, in fact, and not at all suicidal. Not that she knew what suicidal people really looked like, but at least he didn't seem to be unhinged and hysterical anymore.

"Uh –" Jane searched for the least tactless words she could think of. "Are you, you know, okay?"

"Quite fine." His voice was mild, as if nothing of note had just happened.

He obviously didn't understand what she meant. "I mean . . ." She waved vaguely at her head. "From the kamikaze attempt."

Loki raised an eyebrow at her. "To what are you referring? I was gathering information."

"Information?"

His tone expressed that this was all deadly dull to him. "What they would do. Whether they would, perhaps, cease their experiment if it became too inconvenient, or one of the participants was . . . indisposed."

"Uh-huh," said Jane, her doubts showing clearly. There was a flash of something across his expression, his eyes narrowing at her, before he wiped it away, and he was back to that unnerving blankness. "Thanks, I guess."

"I didn't do it for you," he said coolly.

"Of course not," she muttered, unable to let him have the last word. She tucked her chin into her folded arms and chewed her bottom lip. "What do we do now?"

The eyebrows rose again, and with them Jane's sense of foreboding. "We?" he asked delicately, raising Jane's hackles in a way she couldn't identify. He was so _slippery_ ; just like in Svartalfheim, she couldn't tell where he stood at all, and it irritated her.

"Yeah, you know, two people kidnapped by aliens for freaky sex experiments, maybe we could try to _do something_ , then go back to being mortal enemies or whatever," she snapped.

"You flatter yourself." He flicked something invisible off his thigh.

"Fine, I'll go back to being a lowly _goat_ and you can be . . . whatever you are." She remembered something he'd said earlier and rushed on despite his darkening expression. "King of Asgard. Wait – is Odin dead? Did you kill him?"

"Goat, indeed." He looked distasteful. "As for what I intend to do, I intend to assist these nice . . . _people_ with their experiment and then be merrily on my way." He said this all as if it were obvious, as if that had been his plan from the start.

Jane sucked in a breath. He wasn't going to help her. He'd resigned himself, and that spelled doom for Jane, who was way less powerful and capable of figuring a way out of this particular problem. The kinds of problems she solved were the kind worked out on paper and in labs, with equipment and hypotheses and testing. Some _sufficiently advanced science_ would be helpful here.

"Why can't you just – poof?" Jane flicked her fingers.

If possible, he looked even more disdainful. "They have found some way of interfering with my . . . poofing abilities." His face twitched in a brief grimace.

"Frequencies, maybe," murmured Jane. "They could be canceling it out somehow."

"It matters not." His eyes bored into hers. "I have . . . had impressed upon me the necessity of our task." Biting her lip, Jane wondered what had gone on while she'd been out of it. "I assume you do not wish to be an incubator for a half-Midgardian, half-Jotun _freak_ –" Visibly he reined himself in and swallowed whatever it was he'd been about to say.

Jane shuddered before she could help herself. "No," she said finally.

"Neither do I."

Jane almost asked him how he could possibly be impregnated, but decided against it. Some things you didn't want to know. "So we just . . . give up? I can't accept that."

His patience began to fray. "I am not your great heroic _Thor_ , who throws himself into conflict under the flimsiest pretext. I understand the wisdom of assessing your enemy and choosing which battles to fight."

"That's not like Thor at all," she said automatically, and his eyes darkened further still. "It's _not,_ " she insisted in the face of his anger.

"How would _you_ know?" he said scathingly, rising to his feet to tower over her. It was instinctively intimidating even with the barrier between them. Now she'd done it. "You have known Thor for the lifespan of a fly. Like any lover, he has shown you only the best side of himself – and that a temporary aberrance, I assure you. You know nothing about him."

"That's not true," she said, stung. "Just because you refuse to see –"

He cut her off with a sharp, sudden laugh, almost a bark. There was a lot of bitterness in that laugh. " _Refuse to see?_ " he repeated incredulously. "I am the only person in all the Nine Realms who has _ever_ truly seen Thor for who he is."

A chime sounded, very much like a wordless version of the computer-voice they had spoken with earlier. At this interruption, Loki took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back so that his posture was painfully perfect, too ramrod-straight. He began to pace along the edge of the barrier while Jane watched him.

"What comes next," he said, shooting her a look out of the corner of his eye, "is fairly . . . straightforward."

"What comes next," she echoed. "You mean sex."

"Yes. Intercourse." He said the word distastefully. "After they collect their information, they will return us."

Jane gritted her teeth. "Right. And you know this how?" He seemed awfully compliant after his earlier display of defiance. It wasn't like she knew him very well, exactly, but that didn't seem very _Loki_ -like. It occurred to her that he might just be laying in wait for another chance to – to what? He hadn't been able to hurt himself enough in time, but maybe he was waiting for his chance to turn on _her_. The plausibility – _probability,_ even, the more she thought about it – chilled her. Loki had made it crystal clear he wasn't on her side.

"What choice is there?" he snapped. "If you have a brilliant idea for escape, by all means, pray share it."

"There's always a choice," she said, but her words sounded weak.

Loki snorted and drew closer to the wall.

"Wait," she said suddenly, although she didn't know how to address the room. "I – what if he tries to hurt me? Don't you think that could be what he's trying to do?"

Loki sneered, turning to face her fully. She glanced away from his naked blue body. "I assure you, you are beneath such attention."

"Because I'm such a _goat_?" she snapped. "You did, oh, I don't know, try to conquer a planet full of goats once."

" _MEASURES HAVE BEEN TAKEN._ " The interruption caused Loki to grimace. " _HE IS NOT ABLE TO INJURE YOU IN ANY WAY._ "

That only went part of the way toward assuaging Jane's fears. Loki was a trickster, he could find ways around rules and prohibitions and limits.

Loki visibly reined himself in. "Jane," he said in a reasonable voice. "I am as eager as you to escape this confinement, I assure you. The best option for _both_ of us," here he gave her a significant look, "is to comply. Don't you think?"

Biting her lip, Jane glared at him for another long moment. Maybe that was true for him. He was right, he _wasn't_ Thor; maybe he was willing to do terrible things, make compromises, to save his own skin.

"You still have not the slightest sliver of self-preservation in you." He sounded deeply annoyed. "I suppose I'm not surprised. Well, here is another option. They have offered you – us – the option of . . . assistance."

Jane's mouth went dry as she tried not to picture exactly what "assistance" meant in this context. "Assistance," she repeated faintly.

"Chemical assistance." He shifted his weight to the other foot, hands still clasped tightly behind his back. Clearly the idea made him uncomfortable.

It dawned on her. "You're talking about an aphrodisiac."

He jerked his head, barely a nod.

There was a certain appeal to the idea, she thought reluctantly, her eyes dropping to the floor. What she wouldn't give for a couple of glasses of wine – hell, a couple of bottles – right about now. Maybe there was some merit in making it easier on them, so they could just forget about it later. If there even was a later. But then she pictured them being really _into_ it, like a stupid porno video in her head, and she cringed at the idea of being roofied into enjoying sex with Loki. Enjoying it so much she might – initiate. Be eager. Make noise. Not fake anything. Give Loki the satisfaction.

Nope. Her stomach churned.

"Are you going to?" she asked, surreptitiously gnawing at a hangnail.

He looked faintly surprised, before it melted away a second later. "I don't think I shall partake, despite the most generous offer," he said stiffly.

That was about what she'd expected. He seemed like someone who preferred to be in control of himself. She could easily imagine him as the guy at the party who pretended to drink while everyone else was getting wasted. "Yeah, me neither," she admitted.

Again that flicker of surprise. He rubbed his upper lip with a finger as he studied her. Then his gaze traveled over her, slowly, from head to toe. It wasn't lascivious, exactly, but there was definitely something goading about it. Challenging. "Are you quite sure?" Honey-sweetness coated his words, so Jane was sure there was poison behind them somewhere. "I don't know how much experience you have bedding down with monsters, but you might find yourself wishing for something to . . . ease the way."

"I'll be fine, thanks for your concern."

"Very well, then."

" _Fine._ "

"Then we are in agreement." He said the words with an odd weight, like he was speaking to someone other than Jane, and he placed his hands on the invisible barrier, flattening them.

Jane saw the moment it disappeared and his hands came through, her heart beating faster. There wasn't anything left between them now. She found herself wishing for a last-minute rescue, even though she wasn't sure how much time had passed or whether Thor even knew that she was gone, now that they'd broken up.

Loki didn't hesitate, however, and stalked over to where she was sitting. Jane stood, so that at least she wouldn't be at eye-level with his crotch, and glared up at him. Like Thor, he had perfect posture, but that was a comparison she really didn't want to be thinking about.

He made no attempt to kiss her – thank goodness – but he did stand close enough to her that he could have. His palms were cool and smooth on her arms, and when he exhaled his breath made her shiver. His body must run at sixty or under, she noted clinically before being distracted by the gooseflesh breaking out on her skin.

Jane uncrossed her arms, not wanting to look too afraid even though she was, incredibly so. The colder air around him was making her nipples tighten involuntarily. His thumb, with its blue curved claw, drifted perilously close to the curve of her breast, and before she knew it, Jane had shuddered and half-turned away so that he couldn't keep going. Foreplay? Kissing? Her gut churned at the idea.

"Let's just get this over with," she said in a rush.

Jane looked up to see his eyes narrowing to red slits and his nostrils flaring.

"Fine." He spat the word, and then suddenly bent over at the waist, hooked an arm behind her knees, and _pulled_ , toppling her onto the pallet with ease and making her shriek.

Then he was looming over her, caging her in with his body, and Jane almost kicked him in the chest before remembering it would be pointless and he would laugh at her. But she was _not_ going to be some helpless victim here while Loki indulged his creepy impulses or took out his frustration on her or whatever he was doing. So instead of following her first instinct to close her thighs, she widened them so that her knees bracketed his waist.

"Well?" she demanded. A sliver of surprise had crossed his face before disappearing, she saw with triumph.

He pulled back, his hands coming to rest on her knees in a tight grip, and he looked down at her. She didn't like being on display like this, especially not with someone like Loki, and for a moment she was sure he would say something disparaging and awful.

But he didn't. Instead he leaned down, pushed her legs farther apart, and licked her open in one broad stroke of his tongue.

Even though she was almost expecting it, she barely managed to suppress her cry into a gasp. The second stroke was more precise, delving inside her. Little by little his tongue was coaxing her open. She fought it, clamping her muscles down in protest, but she was already wet from his mouth. Her legs were trembling violently against his hands, but he didn't seem to notice.

He pressed against the underside of her clit where she could feel the rougher texture of his tongue. Little bumps, bigger than a human's, rubbed at her, caught on her skin. The friction was otherworldly, like nothing she'd ever felt before. At the next movement of his mouth – his tongue licking up her nub, Jane gasped again, the sound loud in the quiet, feeling a spike of arousal warm in her stomach. Her hands tightened and dug into the pallet.

Loki sealed his mouth around her and sucked. His lips were rough, too. Dimly she was aware of the sounds she was making, of protest or pleasure. It was too much, too much sensation, the rough rasp of his mouth like sandpaper, riding the line between pleasure and pain.

He paused for a moment, nose pressed to Jane's mound, and sniffed. Shifting lower, he ran his tongue down her again. For the first time, Jane realized she was wet, really wet.

His tongue dipped into her, spread it all around. His mouth began to work over her with more intent. His tongue pulsed up, up, up, now slick and soft against her. Jane realized that he'd only been testing her so far, feeling her out. Now he was merciless – fastening his mouth to her and sucking hard in a wet, open kiss. It sent unwanted shocks of pleasure down her spine. It was like there wasn't any air in her lungs; Jane tried to suck in a deep breath but she couldn't stop feeling dizzy and light-headed, too weak to stop herself from trembling.

He didn't slow down, pull back and tease, or even pay attention to her at all, it seemed. There was nothing personal or intimate about what he was doing, not even when he brought her to the peak. Jane's orgasm was brutal, unrelenting; it crashed over her with the force of a tsunami, more shock and spasm than pleasure. She was barely able to clamp down on a shriek.

And he _didn't stop._ He kept working at her, wringing out a few aftershocks, but then she couldn't bear it anymore and jerked her hips away and collapsed on her side where she couldn't see him.

She tried to calm her breathing, but all that would come out were airless gasps. Her eyes slammed shut and she tried to steady herself. The vestiges of her orgasm ran through her with every pulse of her blood.

Over that she could barely hear Loki – Loki, Thor's brother, god of lies, Loki, who had just eaten her out, she wished mightily that this was all a dream she was going to wake up from any humiliating second now – breathing, a little loud. Jane raised her head a little. She didn't want to look at him – the _last_ thing she wanted to do was look at him – but somehow the thought of him watching her while she was unawares was even worse. So, the second-to-last thing.

Loki hadn't moved from where he sat back on his haunches. When he turned to face her, he seemed almost bored, careless, except that his eyes were narrowed. He looked angry. She couldn't blame him for that. But he seemed like the kind of guy who, if he couldn't strike out at the real target of his fury, would take the next nearest substitute. Here, that was her.

Jane shivered at the touch of his gaze. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and for a moment they watched each other.

She pulled herself halfway up into a sitting position. "So what's next?" she managed to say finally, thinking it would be better to get it over with. Better to seem like she was in charge.

"Don't get up," he answered shortly, and sucked on two of his fingers. When he drew them out of his mouth they were shiny. Oh. _Oh._ Jane laid back.

His other hand came to rest heavily on one hip, pushing her down. And then – she felt his fingers probing, not ungently. She stiffened as he found her entrance, but he only circled a few times at first, his fingertip blunt and larger than she'd expected.

Then one finger pressed in to her. The way was slick, easy going: he slid into her until his other knuckles pressed against her. Jane exhaled lowly, shakily. She was still a little oversensitive and she squirmed against him, but his hands were immoveable, until he withdrew slowly, leaving her empty.

When she felt his other finger nudge up next to it, Jane flushed. But even though she was wet, she drew in a sharp breath as his fingers breached her. They were thick and broad, and she felt each knuckle keenly as it sank into her. Jane flexed her feet in an effort to dispel the tension and drew her knees up a little further.

When he moved his hand again, it was smooth, fingers stroking expertly down her walls. When he pressed too hard, rubbing in little circles, Jane's hips gave a jerk. It was a deep touch, the kind that made you ache for something more subtantial. The hand on her hip squeezed down reflexively, keeping her from moving. He must be loving this. Her body felt so warm and flushed, but his palm was cool on her skin.

He started a rhythm, not too slow, not too fast, not jabbing or thrusting – just those long, even strokes that left her quietly quaking after a few minutes.

One of her hands was tucked into her side. If she shifted just a little, she could cup one of her breasts, squeeze lightly – that felt nice, nipple firm against her palm. She pinched it between her fingers, and oh, that was even better.

Without noticing it she had begun to move her hips to the rhythm of his hand, she realized, but it felt too good to stop. Without warning, his fingers slipped out of her and pushed against her clit. The sudden spike of pleasure made her cry out.

The breath froze in her lungs in horror, but she was rocking in little pulses against his hand and she couldn't stop it. Until he pulled away. Jane made a frustrated noise.

"Hands and knees," said Loki, sounding deeper and rougher for a moment. Oh. Oh.

If Jane thought her heart couldn't beat any faster, she was wrong. This wasn't how she usually liked it, she thought as she shifted to her knees, spreading them open. But maybe it would be easier this way, not having to look him in the face. Or have him look at her.

Despite that, Jane couldn't help but wonder a little. He _was_ an alien. Thor had been, too, but anatomically he had been just like a human. Loki, on the other hand . . . She ducked her head – just a little peek, it was only fair. She caught a glimpse of him on the other side of her thighs, erect and flushed dark blue. Jane swallowed. He looked thick. A shiver ran through her. The head of his cock gleamed wetly from where it emerged from his foreskin. Quickly she looked away.

But when she felt his hands on the backs of her thighs, she panicked. "Wait!" she said, jerking away and turning over to face him.

" _What?_ " he growled, his fists clenching, and it was clear he only had a few strained threads of patience left.

"Frost giants are as strong as Asgardians, right?" she asked quickly, folding herself further back, away from him. "If you're that strong, you might hurt me. Even without meaning to."

At first he looked like he didn't care, but after a few moments he relaxed. Probably he was remembering that their kidnappers wouldn't look kindly on it. "Is there something you are suggesting?"

She couldn't believe she was about to suggest this, but desperate times made for desperate Midgardians. "Lie down," she said with reluctance. "I can . . ."

Unable to even finish the sentence, she let him figure it out on his own. "Ah. You wish to ride me." His red eyes glinted as he did what she said, challenging her.

"Shut _up_ ," she said, and her desperation must have been evident, because he smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I don't _wish_ for anything about this –"

"Except to feel in control. Will it assuage your horror to pretend you open your legs willingly? Bare your cunt to a monster by choice? I assure you –"

Jane did the only thing she could think to silence him, which was to wrap her hand around his length – he had softened a little – and stroke. His eyes widened and his breathing stuttered. Jane took her opportunity in the momentary silence.

"We have blue people on Earth. I don't care about that." She punctuated this statement with a squeeze at the head, and he surged into her hand with a shallow gasp. After the way he'd taken her to pieces earlier, there was something very satisfying about turning the tables on him.

But he wasn't going to give up that easily. He kept his hips still through his next few strokes, and though his voice was strained he still managed to say, "Yes, Midgardian mutants repulse no one, I must have imagin _aah_ –"

His words broke off in a whine when Jane rubbed her thumb over the head of his cock, now fully stiff. She could practically _hear_ him swallow, which gave her a savage burst of satisfaction. "What were you saying?" she said sweetly, aiming for even a degree of Loki's own cool, though the words came out too quickly and breathlessly to really pull it off.

Not that he seemed to notice, judging by his inarticulate sound. He breathed in deeply, obviously trying to control himself, just as Jane had. She let her other hand skim across his stomach, feeling it rise and fall. The muscles beneath her palm tensed at the simple touch.

"You seem unexpectedly enthusiastic about –"

Jane twisted her wrist when she reached the head this time, listening as he broke off with a gasp, throwing his head back. She let the hand jerking him slip off and his fists spasmed at his side, tearing into the pallet. He made a frustrated noise, quickly swallowed.

He raised his head, looking not a little wild. A shiver stole down her spine as she thought about what was coming next. Taking a breath to steady herself, Jane braced her hands on his flat stomach and hitched one leg over his thighs so that she was straddling him. His jutting shaft brushed up against her belly, and they both jerked.

She didn't let him get comfortable before raising her hips and positioning him with a hand. _Quick like a band-aid,_ she thought, sinking down on him before her nerve gave out.

He made a strangled sound that covered her own gasp. The head of his cock pushed her open around him. She had been right – he was thick, and she had to stretch to accommodate. It burned a little. She was panting and gritting her teeth by the time he was all the way in, discomfort giving way to pleasure at being filled. Just a biological reaction, she told herself. When she didn't move for a moment, his hips pushed up against her in an involuntary silent demand.

"No." She tried to make it sound strong and sure, and she bore down with her hands to punctuate the command. He was breathing hard through his nose. _You're having sex with Loki_ , her brain reminded her, and she told it to shut up.

Jane set a slow pace. He'd almost brought her to the edge earlier, and arousal still throbbed through her. He felt _good_ inside her in a way she didn't want at all, but couldn't help but like at the same time. She swallowed at the burn of pleasure and felt a flush creep down her face and chest, unable to imagine what she must look like.

Loki's head rolled to the side; his eyes were closed. She didn't know whether he didn't want to look at her or at himself. A spark of anger ignited: he didn't just get to _check out_ , pretend he was somewhere else or she was someone else. Not if she didn't.

Leaning forward, she let her hips move in faster circles, urged on by her traitorous body. Under her palms his muscles clenched, and she saw him grit his teeth. She put more weight on her hands, spreading her knees further apart, and oh, at this angle the pressure was perfect, she was practically grinding against him, and every movement sent sparks through her core.

The pressure inside her built up and up until she felt coiled tight, she was so close, they were both gasping, and then she realized he was looking at her now, watching her with wide eyes, innocent of his earlier malice. The tension inside her came to a head and finally broke, split wide open as she bore down on him, trying to get as much of him inside her as she could, and she cried out. Pleasure took over and she gripped him tightly.

Then her movements slowed, lethargy pulling on her limbs, and she gasped and gasped as she came down, unable to catch her breath. Loki wasn't done, however, and his hands scrabbled at her hips in desperation. She let him pull her forward with one hand splayed on her back, until she was almost on her hands and knees. Then he held her still as his hips thrust up, up, making her whimper, voice breaking, at the pulses of pleasure it sent through her.

It only took a minute before the last thread of his patience frayed and finally snapped as he drove into her erratically again and again and came at last with a pained grunt, grinding against her. His hand was hard on her hip, too hard; she knew she would see bruises there tomorrow, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Afterward, his breath was cool on her ear, and he felt good against her overheated skin. Jane let herself lay there for a minute, panting. They were both breathing unsteadily, their bodies heaving against each other slickly from sweat, and his hands were still on her, squeezing thoughtlessly, vaguely.

As Jane's brain began to come back online, she knew he would say something cruel sooner or later, so she pulled herself away from him, trying to ignore the wet sound as they separated and the way his hands jerked away when she began to move, and rolled off.

Loki sat up, running a hand through his hair, which was in disarray after their interlude. "Well?" he demanded, looking up at the room, though he sounded less urgent than before.

She hadn't had an anatomy class in years, but she figured they were probably measuring their post-climax vital signs. "Resolution," she said shortly. He swung around to glare at her. "Fourth stage of sexual activity," she muttered. "Once we get back to baseline, they'll . . ."

If they had been telling the truth. She rubbed her hands over her face and waited, trying not to let her nervousness mount. Loki wouldn't look at her. Clamping her thighs together, she tried not to think of the wetness there, cooling and drying to a sticky mess. At least she wouldn't have to wash the sheets. A giggle bubbled up out of her. Silver linings.

" _THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION_ ," said the electronic voice, several minutes later. " _WE HAVE COLLECTED ALL THE NECESSARY DATA._ " Both Jane and Loki twitched with surprise, but then she heard the hydraulic hiss from before, and a few moments later everything went dark. This time, she welcomed it.

* * *

A week passed. Jane spent the first day after waking up in her trailer half-sick with fear and worry. Around every corner she expected to see his blue face with its malevolent red eyes. But as one day passed, then two and three, without any sign of him, Jane began to relax.

She _was_ going to tell Thor. She was. But she had no idea how to break the news to him. And what would _Loki_ say when Thor confronted him, which he inevitably would? She and Thor might have broken up, but that didn't mean she was comfortable with him knowing what had happened. She just needed time to get her story straight.

There were a few straws left that she clung to in her weaker moments. Maybe it hadn't really been Loki there with her, but someone else in disguise. Or maybe the whole thing had been engineered by Loki after all, so that she'd end up in just this situation. He seemed twisted and angry enough for it. _Maybe_ , her mind whispered to her to her vulnerability, when she wanted to bury herself in her work and do nothing at all, _maybe it was all just a dream._ Once or twice she'd even tried to believe it, but it didn't stick.

She couldn't do nothing.

Besides, the longer she held out, the more distracted and unfocused she was. Mathematical symbols slid by her uncomprehending mind. Astronomical models ceased to make more sense than a kid's toy. Guilt and fear nagged at her.

By the end of the week, Jane had decided to just go for it. She would call Thor, explain that she had been kidnapped by aliens wishing to perform vaguely described biological experiments, and then if Thor didn't laugh her off of the call, she'd say that Loki had been there and was apparently the king of Asgard now, whatever that meant for Odin. If Loki wanted to torture either of them by revealing more details – and the longer she thought about it, the less she was sure he would - then so be it.

She knew Thor wouldn't laugh.

But when she came back from town on Friday, armed with a bottle of merlot for strength, someone was already waiting for her.

He was sitting in one of the armchairs in what passed for a living area in her trailer. Against the ratty tan corduroy and general messy aura of the place, his sharp profile and regal mien stood out starkly. When she saw him, his fingertips dug into the armrest.

"I've been waiting for you," Loki said.

Yeah, no kidding. Jane tucked the bottle of wine more securely into her armpit. "Have you?"

He didn't respond immediately, just looking at her. In her mind it was hard to reconcile the man she was looking at with the one she'd met, when they looked so different. This Loki was at least a little bit easier to read, since he looked human. His face was pinched.

"You haven't told Thor that I'm alive," he said finally, in low tones. With a start she realized she recognized his voice more easily than his features. With one hand he was rubbing his fingers together. 

"How would you know?" she blurted.

"You mean, other than the fact that he hasn't returned to Asgard to oust me from the throne?" He smirked at her, though he looked preoccupied by some other thought. "I was watching you, of course."

That sent a chill down Jane's spine, though it made sense.

"What are you here for?"

"To make sure you don't have a change of heart." He rose to his feet. It was hard to look very menacing when you were ducking your head so you didn't hit the ceiling, but Loki's words were threatening enough, and with no one canceling out his magic he had enough power to back them up. Slow, long strides brought him close.

Jane stepped back involuntarily, her spine hitting the corner of the counter painfully. She'd expected this, somewhere deep down inside.

"What are you going to do to me?" 

"Are you afraid?" he asked instead of answering her. He was just as imposing up close as she remembered; she had to crane her neck to look at him.

Her spine straightened and her shoulders set. "No."

Just as he had before, his hands came up to rest on her arms, and at his touch she jumped, belying her protest. Loki looked both angered and gratified by her reaction, the hypocrite.

"At least let me have a drink first," she found herself saying. If she could distract him long enough, she could at least get to a phone. Even if they wouldn't be able to save her, she could let someone know he was alive. Why, why, _why_ hadn't she told someone sooner? She cursed herself for dithering and delaying.

He tilted his head back and looked down at her with just the hint of a smile. "Do you know, the last time I turned down a drink with a Midgardian, it didn't go so well for me."

Jane didn't know what he was talking about, but it sounded like permission. Without looking at him she pulled out the merlot and twisted off the cap as if this were a perfectly normal night. She found herself regretting her cheap taste – if it had been corked, maybe she could have used the corkscrew to stab him. 

Taking her time to pour, Jane considered her other options. She doubted hitting him over the head with anything heavy was going to do the trick; she needed something sharp. Breaking the wineglass, maybe. Her phone was in her back pocket – if she could just get away from him for a few seconds – what was the shortest possible text she could send –

Loki interrupted her frenetic thoughts, his voice deceptively mild. "That's quite a lot of wine."

It was. Her fingers clenched on the bottle. She had filled the glass nearly to the top. "I need a drink," she said. It was true, and she knew it showed, because he chuckled. She poured him one, too. It would be good to keep one of his hands busy.

Her first gulp was too big, she realized as soon as she swallowed it. Abruptly she remembered she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. The wine simmered uneasily in her stomach.

Jane stared up at him. He took a sip from his glass, all mocking politeness. Though, she thought – or maybe it was just the wine telling her – there was some nervous energy underlying it. She curled her fingers around the stem and squeezed.

Her eyes dropped to his neck. He was very pale; even in the crappy lighting of her trailer, she could see threads of blue winding underneath his skin. She fixed her eyes there and watched him swallow, as the prominent blue vein there bobbed. She felt frozen, feet welded to the floor, the muscles in her hand stiff and unable to move. Any minute now, he would strike. She wouldn't have enough time to strike back, she had to act, or . . . why _was_ he waiting? What for?

Curiosity drove her gaze up, to his eyes, which were clear and cold, the color reminding her of his blue skin, and she nearly jolted in recognition. His eyes flitted between hers, and there was a crease between his brows like he was concentrating.

As if he noticed her examination, he seemed to come back to himself, and the frown vanished, replaced by a studied emptiness. One of his hands came up to cup her chin, his fingers curling around her jaw. His grip was uncomfortably tight, bordering on painful.

"You'll not breathe a word of our encounter to any living soul."

Jane didn't understand his words, and tried to draw back in confusion. She raised the wineglass at last, ready to bring it down and break it – but he moved too fast.

The hand on her chin tipped her head back, and he leaned down to kiss her.

Loki was very tall, so his grip pulled her up to her toes against him. The wineglass fell from her hand, spilling its contents around their feet, but she hardly noticed. Not with his mouth pressed hard against hers. Up close, he smelled like leather and metal. They had never kissed before, she realized with a jolt.

A curious tingle swept through her, from her lips through the crown of her head and the tips of her toes, to settle like a knot in her throat. It wasn't a tingle of romance or desire, but almost painful in its prickliness, like a current of electricity vibrating under her skin. Through her half-open eyes she could see a haze of purple smoke across her vision, and it hit her – he was doing _magic_ on her.

Her surprise made her mouth fall open, and he went still. Then his mouth moved, unexpectedly gentle, and his other hand reached for her.

Was that all it took? A little affection? Jane remembered his initial overture to her, her rejection of his unspoken offer and his subsequent fit of childish anger. She wasn't sure whether to feel queasy or vengeful.

She felt his lower lip between hers. It was soft, just like any other, and the realization shook her. So was his tongue when it came out tentatively and swiped under her lip. Both of them were breathing hard, though they'd done almost nothing.

In anger she bit down on his lower lip and felt it split between her teeth. The hot, metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth.

He shoved her away with a snarl. She fell back against the counter's edge. A few drops of blood dribbled down his chin before he wiped them away, looking murderous.

But then his spine straightened, and he seemed to recover his control. "You are no threat to me," he said, and she wasn't sure which of them he was talking to. He repeated, more calmly, "You're no threat. Your lips have been sealed. You will not be able to speak of either of our encounters, nor of the fact that I am alive, nor of your inability to do so."

He smirked, as if he had thought of everything. Jane opened her mouth so say something once, twice, but found she couldn't; something like a hand clamped down on her voice when she tried.

Glaring up at Loki, whose satisfaction grew by the second, she swallowed, cleared her throat, and tried again. "You won't get away with this," was all she managed before the spell cut her off again.

"I already . . . oh, never mind. Farewell, Dr. Foster." His look swept up and down her as he adjusted his collar and vambraces unnecessarily, his long fingers dexterous and deft. His eyes settled on her mouth, which was still sticky with blood. His blood. "Though I shall understand if you don't wish to return the sentiment."

He stepped out her door, letting it bang behind him.

Flying after him, Jane opened the door and looked out. There was no one in sight in any direction. Even the sand nearby was undisturbed. There was no sign he'd ever been here at all.

None except for the spilled wine in the kitchenette, which had stained the hem of her pants. Jane changed clothes and washed out her mouth, but couldn't quite get rid of the faint taste of copper. She capped the bottle and wiped the puddle from the floor, her mind working hard at something else.

She had to find a way around Loki's spell – and in the meanwhile, find a better word than _spell_ to describe it. With a clear goal in mind, she felt more focused and sharp than she had in days.

She put on a pot of coffee, knowing she wasn't going to sleep tonight.


End file.
